FRESH evidence that Britain is firmly on the road to recovery came yesterday as experts nearly doubled their estimate of UK growth.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development expects it to grow by 1.5 per cent in 2013.

In May it predicted growth of just 0.8 per cent.

The upbeat assessment came as new figures showed construction grew last month at its fastest pace for nearly six years in what was hailed as a “new dawn” for the hard-pressed sector.

In its latest report, the organisation, said: “The pace of recovery in the major advanced economies improved in the second quarter and growth is expected to be maintained at a similar rate in the second half of the year.

“Activity is expanding at encouraging rates in North America, Japan and the UK, while the euro area as a whole is no longer in recession.”

The analysis follows UK figures showing the economy grew 0.3 per cent in the first three months of this year and 0.7 per cent in the next quarter.

The OECD now expects Britain’s performance to outstrip Germany’s 0.7 per cent and France’s 0.3 per cent growth over 2013.

The UK would grow by slightly less than America’s 1.7 per cent and Japan’s 1.6 per cent but it is expected to do better than both over the rest of the year.